Listen to this articleJoshua 14:14 (NIV)
14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.
Caleb, is recorded as the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite: Considering that in Genesis 15, Abraham is given the Kenizzites as one of the Canaanite tribes that must be removed, does that mean Caleb was actually a Canaanite?
Genesis 15:18-21 (NIV)
18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates — 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
Whilst, on first glance it may seem like Caleb’s Father was from the Kenizzites of Canaan, a further study of the scriptures actually shows that Caleb was a son of and descended of Judah.
Kenizite Definition
The word translated as Kennizite simply means descendent of Kenaz. Here is the word and its definition from a bible Hebrew dictionary.
Strong’s Dictionary
קְנִזִּי Qᵉnizzîy, ken-iz-zee’;
patronymic from H7073, a Kenizzite or descendant of Kenaz:—Kenezite, Kenizzites.
The Word Kenaz itself means Hunter.
Now, let me give 5 reasons why Caleb was from the tribe of Judah, and the Kenaz is of Judah and not of the Canaanites.
1.) Caleb is selected as the representative of his Father Judah.
When it came time to send spies into Canaan, Moses is given very specific instructions. He would select a person from each tribe to represent his Father. And the person had to be a Chief in the Tribe.
Numbers 13:1-2 (NIV) 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
Numbers 13:1-2 (WEB) 1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, every one a prince among them.”
Numbers 13:6 (WEB) 6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
By virtue of the statement above, it shows that Caleb was from the tribe of Judah, since Moses made his selection “From the Tribes” and it also shows that Caleb himself was a prince of Judah, a Chief and Leader of the Tribe.
It makes sense to me for the prince and chief of the tribe of Judah to be a son of Judah, and not a random Canaanite. That tallies more with the rest of the bible narrative.
2.) The Tribe of Judah had many Clans.
The tribe of Judah had many clans under it, and these clans were named after the heads of the families.
Numbers 26:19-22 (ESV)
19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan; and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 And the sons of Judah according to their clans were: of Shelah, the clan of the Shelanites; of Perez, the clan of the Perezites; of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites.
21 And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the clan of the Hamulites. 22 These are the clans of Judah as they were listed, 76,500.
Numbers 26:20-22 (NKJV)
20 And the sons of Judah according to their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Parzites; of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites.
21 And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. 22 These are the families of Judah according to those who were numbered of them: seventy-six thousand five hundred.
As you notice, spellings can differ slightly. The Sons of Perez were Called the Perezities. It’s easy to confuse that with the Perrizites of Canaan.
Perez had two sons, Hezron and Hamul. So which means that the Perezites are divided into two families, the Hezronites and the Hamulities. And this goes on and on.
So when it speaks of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenezzite, it’s simply referring to his family or clan under Judah.
We see this when Caleb comes to claim his land.
3.) He is among the Children (descendants) of Judah
Joshua 14:6 (NKJV) 6 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: “You know the word which the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea.
It’s clear that Caleb is numbered among the children of Judah. So we can understand from the above that Caleb was one of the children of Judah, from the Kenizzities, which means of the Family of Kenaz.
This is clearly laid out in the book of Chronicles.
4.) Book of Chronicles
The Record of Caleb’s ancestry is given in the book of Chronicles chapter 4. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the descendants of Judah. Caleb is specifically chronicled on the list of Judah’s descendants.
1 Chronicles 4:1-15 (NKJV)
1 The sons of Judah were Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. 2 And Reaiah the son of Shobal begot Jahath, and Jahath begot Ahumai and Lahad. These were the families of the Zorathites. 3 These were the sons of the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi; 4 and Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah.
These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah the father of Bethlehem.
11 Chelub the brother of Shuhah begot Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. 12 And Eshton begot Beth-Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-Nahash. These were the men of Rechah.
13 The sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel were Hathath, 14 and Meonothai who begot Ophrah. Seraiah begot Joab the father of Ge Harashim, for they were craftsmen.
15 The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh were Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah was Kenaz.
Wonderful great research
Agree with your observe, you points are well taken and layout is clear. Thank you. God bless.
This does not prove that Caleb was not originally a Gentile. This text does not say whose son Yefuné was, there is no genealogical connection between him and each of the children of Judah, however, it is said in all words that he was a Kenizete.
This means that Caleb was a converted Jew, originally an Arab/Edomite, but who converted to Israel and was incorporated into the tribe of Judah.
I am sorry my brother Ronnie, a person can join the Jewish religion, but you can’t join a tribe. The only way to be part of a tribe of Israel is by being born into that tribe.
No matter how much you worship the God of Israel, no Gentile can become a Don of Levi, or a son of Gad, or a son of Judah. These are not membership clubs that someone can join, you have to be born there.
Caleb is referred to as a Son of Judah and moreso the prince of Judah.
Moreso, God was clear that every Canaanite should be destroyed, and the land of Canaan was promised only to the descendents of Abraham, according to the flesh.
Rather than inventing a whole history for Caleb where we say, he was a Moabite whose Father joined the clan of Israel. Let us take the simple scriptures which simply say he was a descendent of Judah.
I think the Bible is pretty clear there. But you’re free to believe what you want.
Stay Blessed.
Consider the timelines. When God made promise to Abraham and he went into the land there was no instruction to destroy the inhabitants only that give you their land. The instruction to destroy the inhabitants did not come until the times of Moses. Looking back at the patriarch age a Caanonite who raped Dinah the daughter of Jacob was told if he was circumcised he could marry her, now that might not be a good example because the brothers of Dinah killed him but in Joshua day Rahab the Caanonite was allowed into the tribe of Judah after Jerichos fall. She is in Jesus genealogy who is from Judah. This is all great stuff I would catagorize as speculative.
Hello my brother.
I don’t know if you understand what a tribe is.
A tribe is not a religion that can be joined. It’s something you’re born into. When a foreigner lives in the territory of Judah or territory of Gad, or territory of Levi, and practices their religion he does become a Levite. Being a Levite is an ethnic identity that you get by birth.
It’s like a black man from Nigeria who goes to China and learns Chinese language, and religion and lives there. That does not make him a Chinese man. Just like if an Indian goes to Ireland and learns to speak Irish, it does not make him an Irishman. His ethnic identity remains the same.
The inheritance of Abraham was for his descendants.
Genesis 17:8 (WEB) I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”
The fact that Caleb is listed às the prince of the tribe of Judah and receives inheritance in Canaan, is clear that he was an offspring of Abraham through Judah. Not a Canaanite.
And the gentile women who were married into Israel remained gentile women, married into the tribes, and they as women did not have an inheritance in the land. The land remaiñed for sons of Abraham Isaac and Jacob
I would say there is as much proof that Caleb was born a gentile as there is he was part of the tribe of Judah.
”A foreign multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.“
Exodus 12:38 LSB
”But if a sojourner sojourns with you and celebrates the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; AND HE SHALL BE LIKE A NATIVE OF THE LAND. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. The same law shall apply to the native as to the sojourner who sojourns among you.”“
Exodus 12:48-49 LSB
You are right my brother. All those that disagree pray to God for revelation.
Thanks
Agreed
Indeed! Spot on Ronald! The researcher they are doing is falling short. It doesn’t take into account conversion or inheritance.
All weak points. Listing by proximity, one cannot conclude that the one is definitively connected with the other. eg. In Genesis, the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ is listed in the same verse as the ‘tree in the center of the garden.’ Can we conclude that they are intimately related? No … in fact, they are in direct opposition to each other.
And Caleb is always mentioned in conjunction with being a Kennizite. Is he referred to as such as a continual reminder that he was ‘not’ an Israelite, but that because God is not biased, and even non-Israelites were treated equal if they followed the Jewish God? And BTW, He is NOT the Jewish God … He is the God of all peoples. Referring to Him as the Jewish God tends to give extra validity to the Jewish people … a ‘specialness’ which is still claimed today. There is nobody ‘special’ in God’s eyes except Yeshua himself. God is not biased … the only ‘specialness’ that the Jewish people have is that God chose to work with them first in His work with all of humanity.
There is not thought for the fact that the Bible teaches that Caleb has had a different spirit? Could this be a clue to his differences?